Illustrator Icon Tutorial

Following on from Charles’ Photoshop UI Tutorial I’ve put together my own one showing you how to draw an icon in illustrator :) Have fun drawing your own snowflake following my step by step guide, and don’t forget to download the free icon pack attached!

Step 1 – Drawing

To start click File>New to bring up your new Illustrator file. You need to draw the first ‘leg’ of your snowflake, it can be any shape just bear in mind that it is going to be repeated in a circle in order to create a final symmetrical outcome. I used the line tool with a 15pt rounded stroke, as shown below, but you can use any shape you like.

Tip: To make a straight line, hold down shift as you draw with the line tool.

Step 2 – Rotate Tool

Once you’re happy with the shape you have made, group the elements together (command+G) and then select the rotate tool highlighted below.

Hold down the alt key and click on the bottom centre of your shape, as this is the point we want to rotate from to create a circle. This then brings up the rotate dialogue box (pictured below).

Step 3 – Rotating Your Shape

You now need to set the angle of rotation for you snowflake, you want to set it to a number that when repeated will add up to 360 degrees in order to complete the circle e.g. 30,40 or 60.

Tip: the lower the value of angle you use the more legs your snowflake will have.

Once you’ve set the angle of rotation you like, hit copy. You’ll see a repetition of your pattern appear.

Step 4 – Completing Your Snowflake

Hit ctrl+D to repeat your pattern until you have a complete snowflake, it should be completely symmetrical. You can vary your shapes and create different patterns simply by changing the initial leg of the snowflake and the angle of rotation you use.

If you want to style your snowflake up like I have, copy and paste it into photoshop and play around :) Download the freebie PSD and have a look at the styles I use on my icons if you want some inspiration :) Hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorial and keep an eye out, we’ve got some more coming!